Art of printing the assyrian language.



J. E. WERDA.

ART 0F PRINTING THE ASSYRIAN LANGUAGE.

2f efe' :eesewmsi f, 1. ,t :Si-94a 9.9.5. Lgale APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 4.19I5.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

1. E. WERDA.

ART 0F PRINTING THE ASSYRIAN LANGUAGE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.4, |915.

Patented Sept. 18, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

16- Ja Fl /NVENTH JOEL E. WERDA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ART OF PRINTING THE ASSYRIAN LANGUAGE.

Specification ofvLetters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1S, 1917.

Application led September 4, 1915. Serial No. 48,942.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOEL E. WERDA, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, New York, have invented an Improvement in the Art of Printing the Assyrian Language, of which the following is a specification.

The invention embodies a new and improved system of employing various symbols or letters used in transcribing the Assyrian language, together with the formation of new symbols employed in printing such letters, and words formed therefrom.

The object of my invention is to reduce the number of letters required in printing the language while at the same time preserving the ability to convey as extended meaning as is accomplished by the use of the larger number of letters now in use.

In attaining this object, my eiforts have been applied more particularly to the following points of improvement:

(l.) To the employment of exclusively disconnected letters with the aid of a specially created auxiliary sign, instead of connected and disconnected letters which have been and still are in use by all the publishers wherever the Assyrian or the Syriac language is printed.

(2.) To the separation of the letters from the vowels of which they are now a compound part as used in the present system of printing in the Syriac language.

(3.) To the classification of the Syriac vowels and the grouping of them together and employing them as separate vowel letters or vowel signs any of which may precede (or follow if so desired) any of the alphabet letters whenever called Jfor by the rules of the Assyrian or Syriac grammar.

(4.) To the separation of the special signs from the special-sign-receiving letters of which they are now a compound part and which are indicative either ot the silence of a letter subject to such condition or a change in the sound of a letter subject 'to such change.

(5.) To thc classification and the grouping together of the said special signs and employing them as separate sign letters which may precede (or follow) their companion letters whenever required by the rules of the Syriac grammar.

(6.) To the separation of the characters from their plural sign of which it is now a compound part, and the creation of a new plural character or sign which may be inserted in a plural word whenever and wherever required by the rules of the Syriac grammar, provision being made for the connected or disconnected form, and also for one with the vowel.

(7.) To the creation of an auxiliary sign which I have named Asrana (binder) which will meet the requirements of all the connected letters, and

(8.) To the creation of an auxiliary ending-sign which I have named Hatmana and which will meet the requirements of all the letters which call for such an ending at the close of a word.

The result of my discovery and invention is to bring the printed Assyrian language (or the Syriac) within'the bounds of a linotype keyboard thus increasing the speed in type setting nearly 1200 per cent. and decreasing the cost of printing in the said language nearly 1200 per cent. Under the present existing system this result, as it will be seen in the annexed drawings, is absolutely beyond any possibility.

My invention also brings the printed Assyrian language within the bounds of a Syriac typewriter for which heretofore the demand has never been filled.

The use of my invention does not deprive' the Assyrian language in the least of its artistic appearance in the printed matterit rather makes the printed matter more uniform and more symmetrical, and furthermore it does not deprive the Assyrian language in the least of its grammatical requirements, nor does it in the least mal-:e the reading less convenient or less easy to the eye of the reader.

In the drawing, Figure I. is a diagram showing the various characters employed in the Assyrian or Svriac alphabet. Fig. II. is a diagram showingl the characters which I have retained in carrying out my present invention. Figs. III., IV. and V. are diagrams illustrating the manner in which the additional and original signs are employed or Vassisted with the auxiliary characters and Fig. VI. is a diagram illustrating the application of my invention to a typewriter keyboard.

In Fig. I. it will be seen that the Syriac ree alphabet consists of 22 letters (consonants) which are indicated by the numerals 1-22, representing at the same time 22 alphabet families. I`hree of these characters, as indicated by the letter (a) in families 11, 13 and 14, Fig. I., assumes entirely new forms at the close of a word. Seven characters, as indicated by the letter (Zi) in families 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 17, and 21, Fig. I., are subject to a change in their sound and when under this condition are accompanied by their distinctive signs. 'Iwo of the seven characters mentioned, as indicated by letter (l) in families 3 and 11, Fig. I., are subject to two changes in their sound and are accompanied by their distinctive signs when subject to such condition, and one character in its changed form, as indicated by the letters (Bb) in family 11, Fig. I., is subject to a change in its sound and is accompanied by its distinctive sign when under such condition. 'Ihus making the total number characters in the Syriac alphabet without the vowels essential for both writing and printing 35.

Of the 35 characters mentioned above I have retained 27 only, as marked in Fig. II. by the numerals 1-27. rI`hese include one disconnected letter lfrom each of the 22 alphabet families,2 eXtra letters subject to a change in sound from alphabet families 5 and 17, Fig. I. and 3 final letters subject to a change in form from families 11, 13 and 14, Fig. I. all five of which appear in Fig. II. and are indicated respectively by the numerals 16, 17, 25, 26, and 27. For the remaining 8 characters I have provided by transforming an accompanying sign into an independent sign as indicated by the letter (A) in Fig. II. and which will meet the requirements of the families 3B, 7b, 11B, 11136, and 2lb in Fig. I. and by utilizing the vowel signs indicated f and i in Fig. II. and which will meet the requirements of the families marked 2b, 3b and 11b in Fig. I. Either one of these signs can be inserted before or after its distinctive mate character whenever called for by the grammatical necessity of the particular change in the sound of the particular character or to be utilized as vowel sound as in the case of 13b, Fig. I.

In the present Syriac system of printing at least 404 letters are used as shown ,in Fig. I. where each family is numbered. This outrageous number is due:

(1st) To the use in printing of both the connected and disconnected letters.

(2nd) To the consequent necessity -enforced by the characteristic of the Syriac which makes every connected or disconnected consonant a vowel-receiving-letter eX- cept when such letters as mere consonants fall at the termination of a word. So that out of a total of 404 letters in use now in the Syriac printing fully 283 letters are vowelreceiving-letters and they represent 283 distinct characters all of which are employed in the present system, and

(3rd) To the artistic demand of the Syriac language which calls for specially designed letters to be used at the close of words.

By my improvement, I eliminate entirely the connected letters and remedy the necessity of their use by the creation of an auxiliary symbol indicated by the letter F, in Fig. II which I designate by the name asrana. I therefore retain only the 27 fundament-al consonants shown on the five left hand columns of Fig. II and numbered 1 to 27.

I also provide for the additional eight characters.

I also separate the vowels from the consonants by employment of the signs indicated by A, f, a', shown in Fig. II, and group the vowels together, transforming them into tenl independent vowel signs which are indicated in Fig. II by the reference letters c, d, e, f, g, 7L, z', j, 7c, marked thereon. 'Ihe vowel sounds f, and 2', I also arrange to meet other requirements as hereinbefore explained.

rIhese vowel signs will render as usual their respective natural functions whenever any of them is called for by any of the consonants.

In the practice of my invention there will appear a very slight and immaterial change in the position of the vowel signs, so that instead-as in the present systema Syriac letter falling either beneath or above or between the vowel signs as in Fig. I., BB, it will immediately follow or precede if necessary, the required vowel sign as in Fig. III., BB.

The slight change in the position of the vowel signs will not in the least affect the ease in reading.

In the Syriac all the characters with the exception of the first in the alphabet receive the plural sign as indicated by the letter C in Fig. I., thus necessitating in the present system of printing the employment of 55 plural characters.

In carrying out my invention I have eliminated all these 55 plural letters and have created one plural letter by the combination of a short horizontal stroke and the original plural sign as indicated by the letter L in Fig. II. The plural letter can be inserted anywhere -in a word whenever the plural sign is called for as shown in Fig. III., D., provision being made for both connected and disconnected letters.

In the Syriac the burden of the artistic ending falls on 32 characters as indicated by the letter in the alphabet families 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19 and 21 in Fig. I.

In my new system I have eliminated all the 92 letters and provided for that necessity by the creation of the auxiliary sign hatmana as hereinbefore stated, and which is indicated by the letter N in Fig. II.

Eight characters in the Syriac alphabet are subject to the loss of their sound and become silent when present in certain words. The sign indicative of the silence of such letters is in a part in the present system of each letter subject to a loss of its sound as indicated by the letter (Z in Fig. I. and appearing in the alphabet families 1--l-5 10-12-14-20 and 22. Because of this it is necessary in the usual way of printing the Syriac to employ l5 additional letters.

In carrying out my invention I have eliminated the l5 silent letters and have provided for suoli requirement by merely retaining in independent and separate form the original sign as indicated by the letter K in Fig. II., which may immediately precede any of the letters calling for such sign as n1 Fig. III., E., provision being made for both connected and disconnected letters.

As a speciic example in order to show the simplicity and the great advantages of my improved system, I have selected letter No. 19 from the alphabet families Fig. I.

By referring to Fig. IV. E, it will be seen that fourteen varieties of this letter are necessary in the present system of printing as these varieties are indicated by 1 to 14 inclusive. In carrying out my invention I have retained the first variety only, or the letter 1E Fig. IV. The connecting and the ending requirements I have met by my newly created signs, called Asrana and Hatmana as hereinbefore explained and indicated respectively by the letters la, 1b, and

1c, Fig. IV., F. It will be noticed that I' have purposely allowed in the said iigure considerable space between the letter and its auxiliaries as I have also done in connection with the application of the vowel sign and the plural sign to the same character for the sake of distinctness in the given illustration. rIhis space will be almost entirely invisible in printed matter. Iietters 1d, le, lf and 1g, Fig. IV., F. represent the same character 1E, Fig. IV., with the application of the vowel sign to a disconnected letter. Letters lit, lz', 1y' and 17e, Fig. IV., F., represent the same character 1F, Fig. IV., with the application of the vowel sign to a connected letter. Letter marked IZ, Fig. IV., F.. represents the same character 1E, Fig. IV., with the application of both the vowel sign and the plural sign to a disconnected letter. Iietter lm, Fig. IV., F., represents the same character 1F, Fig. IV., with the application of both the vowel sign and the plural sign to a connected letter.

In still another example as shown in Fig. V., to further demonstrate 'the simplicity and the advantages of my invention, I have grouped together t-he sound changing letters from the alphabet families 3, 7, 1l and Q1, Fig. I., and which are indicated by l, 2, 3 and e, Fig. V., (No. 11, Fig. I., changing its form when falling at the close of a word, as stated in paragraph 14:, is consequently marked twice by numeral 3 in Fig. V.).

In Fig. V., I have shown how I have eliminated the 16 characters of 3B, Fig. I., i characters of 7?), Fig. I., 12 characters of 11B, Fig. I., 2 characters of llBb, Fig. I. and 4 characters of 2lb, Fig. I., by the application of an independent sound-changing sign to each character, as indicated by the letter A. in Fig. V., where the independent sign meets the requirements of both the disconnected and connected letters. y

Vhenever any space is required between any two letters in a printed word, the square marked TH. SP. (thin space) in Fig. II., will fully meet the demand of such necessity.

In Fig. VI., I have shown how my invention is applicable to the still more limited space allowed by a typewriter, and thereby I have made possible what heretofore has been absolutely impossible for the Syriac language as hereinbefore explained.

Although the position of the vowel or controlling characters or the separately combined type of my invention may appear whenprinted in position above the center line of the metal or combined letter character yet the position of such controlling characters always precedes or follows such letter character and is not used above or below it as in the Arabic language.

From the foregoing, it will be seen, as hereinbefore stated, that in carrying out my invention, I have so simplified printing in the Assyrian or Syriac language as to bring the type employed with the scope of ordinary linotype machines, and have also made it possible to employ a typewriter in writing this language.

It will be understood that the configuration carried by the face of my newly invented type are not such as are intended to combine with a preceding portion of a letter so as to complete its formation as would be the case in printing the Arabic languages where the letters are in some instances so long they cannot be conveniently printed on the face of a single type and have been divided up and portions thereof placed on separate type, the separate portion also being used to add to other sliced up letters to complete their form. My improvements do not have in view such a treatment of the subject at all, as there are none of the letters of the Syriac alphabet too long to be placed on the face of a single type and my invention is not concerned with piecing out the forms of letters.

My invention and improvements in the art of printing the Syriac language coinprises placing in lateral position by means of separate type certain symbols which indicate vowel and other sounds giving value to the preceding character when printed in lateral spaced relation therewith.

lt does not therefore contemplate or refer to a system or class of type, or manipulation of thealphabet, in which the exact position of each letter or character upon the type Jface, or block, has to be carefully worked out or spaced to insure perfect vconnection of the different parts of a letter yon separate type so the form is completed as is the case where the letter is too long to go on the face of a single type and is placed on the faces of two types and the different parts exactly matched up so when printed they will appear in form as if having heen printed from one type.

ln my invention certain of the type take the place of what may be called the vowel signs or characters of the Syriac alphabet as now used and take a position on a separate type and do not in my system match up with any letter so as to appear as if printed from the same face type so as to complete its form but precede or follow it .in lateral position for another purpose.

Nor is it the practice in my invention to print one type twice in the same lateral space or cause double printing of one type impression over another type impresslon, but all type face impressions follow laterally the previous type impression.

In this respect my invention would not be available for the printing of the Persian or Arabic language. Also while available for naeoes typewriter machine work, it is not intended in practising my invention to print one type impression overa previous type impression while the bar of the typewriting machine is held baclr, or moved back, or to cut away the type so they will pass the bar and not move it. y

ln the application ot my invention to a typewriter'lreyboard, as shown in lig. Vl no provision is made for capitals and my new separate type carrying controlling characters are shown as placed in the upper case. This is possible as in the Syriac language no distinction is made between the form of capital letters and the small letters, the dierence being only in size. By this arrangement all ci my new characters or letters may be readily printed by use or the keyboard et a typewriting machine in position following the 'letters which they qualify.

l claim as my invention: As new articles of manufacture a :font of separate types 'for printing in languages in which Syriac characters are used, the said types comprising separate elements carrying initial characters without dots or accents and elements with dots and accents only, which latter embody the controlling and vowel signs having meaning only when used in combination with the type carrying the initial signs and being adapted to make impressions thereof preceding, or following the said initial characters substantially as shown and described.

Signed by me this 16th 1915.

day of August,

JOEL E. WERDA. 

